There are some true gems in this show, but Bluestem is especially impressed with Hoffman's understanding of the history of state regulation of the alcohol and betting industries in the state of Minnesota. Since she asked (rhetorically, BSP suspects) when government started regulating private industry--telling them what they could and could not do--Bluestem put together a little video that answers a few of her questions.

Hoffman said:

What it [the shutdown] showed me was how intertwined our government is in our private sector and I took notes. . . .

. . .The biggest news article was when Miller and Coors couldn't stock our shelves here in Minnesota. You know what they say, don't take a beer away from a Minnesotan in 95 degree heat. But on a serious note, they couldn't go in and stock their shelves. When did that become a function of government to say what a private business can and can't do? . . .

. . .Canterbury Downs had to close. A thousand people were laid off during the shutdown in the private sector. Government has intertwined itself in Minnesota so much. . . .

Alcohol has been regulated in Minnesota since 1933, following a period of when the private industry was illegal under federal law, the Prohibition era that began in 1919 after years of agitation. Minnesota Congressman Volstead (R-Granite Falls) wrote the legislation that got the ball rolling on amending the U.S. Constitution.

Following the repeal of Prohibition, states moved in to regulate production and sales in the alcohol industry; a list of state-by-state laws is provided here. However, Bluestem is not surprised that Hoffman didn't know about this rich history before she heard about it on the news

Likewise, the state of Minnesota regulates gambling; Bluestem is quite surprised that Hoffman didn't know that the state regulates Canterbury Park, and this poor country blog hopes that Dick Day and our other friends at RacinoNow pay her a visit and educate her about the horse racing industry.

The SEIU MN State Council's Executive Director director sent Bluestem a press release and a URL of a Youtube for an ad the national union and Americans United for Change are running in Minnesota's Eighth Congressional District.

Thus, less of districts' dollars go toward educating kids and more to servicing interest on loans.

About the $50 per pupil increase

A friend was quick to post a comment that the bill would provide $50 per student to help pay for the cost of the loans. And a source in the governor's office explains that the $50 per pupil increase will more than cover the cost of servicing loans forced on districts who must borrow money from the private sector.

Perhaps so, but some of that money is still being spent on debt and not on educating kids.

Textbooks? Teachers? Heavens forbid that Minnesota could make taxes more equitable--instead, the bill borrows from education funding, then gives schools a pittance to help out with the loans they'll need because they didn't get the money when they needed to spend it. Meanwhile, the lenders make money off this "solution."

The pain: In addition to borrowing at the state level, the spine of the deal on the table would allow the state to hold back 40 percent of schools’ already bare-bones budgets until next year. This will force virtually every school system in the state to borrow in addition to cutting back.

Dayton did negotiate a $50-per-pupil hike in general education funds to offset the cost of servicing the debt, but at first glance school administrators weren’t mollified.

And, offset notwithstanding, the shift will be disastrous for many charter schools, which will not be able to borrow at rock-bottom government rates, by issuing bonds. Without affordable credit, good, gap-closing programs may simply up and close.

Hawkins' information is found in other reports (see here and here for examples) She has yet to post an update on the final K12 deal at Minnpost.

Local school officials discuss borrowing

Not that the press is being easy on the details of education funding in the new budget. Take Jodie Tweed's article at the Brainard Dispatch, School funding up slightly, which gets into the ugly details of borrowing:

The basic formula allowance was increased by $50 per pupil in Fiscal Year 2012 and FY2013, said Steve Lund, director of business services for Brainerd schools. Lawmakers are calling this a 1 percent increase but Lund said it falls slightly short of 1 percent. The basic formula is currently $5,124 per pupil and for Brainerd Schools, an increase of about $365,000 per year.

“Our basic formula aid is only one component of our total funding, so what is being commonly referred to as a 1 percent increase, really only represents a one-half percent increase on our total budget of approximately $70 million,” Lund explained.

But there's this:

But school districts like Brainerd are then left to pick up the bill and borrow funds themselves to cover their costs. Lund said the district receives about $50 million in state aid and a further delay of 10 percent will mean another $5 million that won’t be reimbursed until the following year. It will cost the district about $50,000 to issue the additional bond and pay interest.

“So, they are going to provide us with about $365,000 of added funding, while they withhold another $5 million of our total funding, which equates to less cash flow and about $50,000 more in expense,” said Lund. “This will push our accounts receivable balance with the state up to a level of approximately $20 million at the end of the fiscal year.”

Wednesday was a good news/bad news sort of day for public education in Minnesota.

There’s disappointment in the state’s decision to delay paying state aid to the public schools that are dependent on it. But school officials are pleased, maybe even relieved, to have a signed state budget agreement following this week’s special session of the Legislature. . . .

. . .In recent history, the state has paid school districts a percentage of their state aid in one fiscal year and shifted the remaining payments into the following fiscal year.

The shift has varied from a 90-10 split all the way to the 70-30 split in the past fiscal year. In the new legislation, the split will be 60-40.

That means that in the current fiscal year, schools will receive 30 percent of last year’s aid payments and 60 percent of this year’s payments. That is likely to have a significant impact on cash flow, as schools depend on the state for about three-quarters of their annual revenue.

Schools will also pay fees and interest to borrow money to get through the year. To help offset that cost, the Legislature increased the general education aid by $50 this year and another $50 next year.

That will increase the base aid from $5,124 per pupil to $5,174 for this school year and to $5,224 for the following year.

“They used education to balance the budget again,” he said. “I would hope there are no legislators out there who are bragging about the K-12 bill.”

Paul Carlson, superintendent at New London-Spicer Schools, said he was disappointed that the state was using the “same old tactics” that have been used in the past. “It’s time our leaders talk about making investments in education.”

The shifts have been used to varying degrees for eight years in a row, Carlson said, and the practice serves to delay dealing with state financial problems.

Carlson said he is pleased to see the increases in state aid, after years of no increases at all.

Read the entire article.

Vandwerf also noted that proposed changes in integration funding "would have affected a number of districts in west central Minnesota." This is curious since the funding is spun by the GOP as an urban/rural, "us" v "them" sort of thing (as if those in the metro are less real than people here out on the prairies).

Politicians speak

The Eden Prairie News reports Republican Representative Jennifer Loon's mention of the purpose for the money:

Loon noted that she was not in favor of doing the school shift but it ended up being “one of the only pathways to end the government shutdown.”

She said that there is additional money in the budget ($50 per child per year) to cover the additional costs of the delayed funding.

Other politicians aren't so forthright. In a podcast interview with Scott Hennen, Gretchen Hoffman mentions the $50 bump, but not its cost. (Bluestem will have more on this remarkable interview later).

Charter schools, which will be hit hardest by the state aid shift being used to balance the budget, will get some relief from the holdback. The education bill included $25 per pupil for charters to help offset their borrowing costs. They also will have access to a $10 million state fund that allows school districts in statutory operating debt to borrow money at low rates.

So here Minnesota is: raiding our education coffers, rather than creating a more equitable tax structure, and forcing school districts to borrow (at interest). And to pay that interest off? A bump in per-student funding across the board, with a little extra for the hard-pressed charter schools.

Not a penny more indeed--except for when we raid the kids' piggy banks. There's money to help pay for that. Wouldn't it be better to pick options that don't force schools to borrow at all?

These banks are a member of our community, and they rely on a well-educated Minnesota workforce. We are calling on banks like Wells Fargo and US Bank to lead by stepping forward and offering to waive interest and fees on borrowing forced on our schools by these GOP budget gimmicks. To do otherwise would be shameful. We bailed out the banks – now it’s time they recognize their role in helping the communities they serve.”

Area residents are concerned about possible negative health and environmental effects from mining the sand and have asked the county board to approve a moratorium on silica sand mining.

On Monday night, the Goodhue County Planning Advisory Commission voted against recommending a moratorium on silica sand mining. From the earlier post:

Boese reports that a representative from Windsor Permian was supposed to attend the meeting, although he or she didn't step forward to introduce him or herself at the meeting. A county employee told Boese that the Windsor Permian representative would be meeting with staff today

A reliable source who wishes to remain anonymous tells Bluestem that he and others spotted three Windsor Permian employees consultants at Monday's Goodhue County Planning Advisory Commission. From an email:

FYI, one of the neighbors who was sitting at the back of the room told me that when Keith Fossen was invited to make his statement, one of the three Windsor Permian employees sitting in the audience stood up, then seemed to realize it his error, and sat down.

Originally, they were supposed to speak, which was why I attended. At the last minute, the commissioners decided against giving them the opportunity.

Maybe that's why they looked so peeved at the start of the meeting.

I'm told that a youtube of two Windsor Permian employees consultants or employees talking to each other before the meeting will be posted soon. I'll add it here when it becomes available.

Update: The source has submitted a photo of the three, but has only identified one of the Windsor-Permian representatives. He is Cy Ingraham. Pat Popple, of Chippewa Falls CCC, the anti-sand mining group, ID'd him for the source.

According to Popple, Ingraham is the consultant who has worked with Canadian Sand & Proppant in Wisconsin. Ingraham is an employee of SEH, a firm that specializes in "civil works, energy, environmental and transportation solutions."

According to his page on SEH's website, Ingraham is a "mining services leader" who provides environmental engineering and industrial services.

So three employees consultants or employees were in the audience on Monday, though not, as Boese wrote in the PB, "identified" to the general public who packed the meeting. But the consultants/employees will be meeting with county staff about the project. After reading the Concerned Chippewa Citizens website, I hope that citizens in Goodhue County keep an eye on these proceedings.

Note: The title of the post was changed to reflect the identification of one of the people as a consultant for the company. While the source used the term "employee," one of the three people has been identified as a consultant; identification of the other two individuals is pending.

There's a growing body of blog posts that begin with something to the effect of "I-don't-like-Michele-Bachmann's-politics-but..." This is another addition to that canon.

Bluestem doesn't much share Michele Bachmann's politics, but neither does it care for flimsily-reasoned attacks or outright smears. And of late, two pseudo-outrages circulate about the gentlewoman from Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District.

The Bachmanns approached their pastor and verbally made the request “a few weeks before the church council granted the request,” Hochmuth said. He added, “they had not been attending that congregation in over two years. They were still on the books as members, but then the church council acted on their request and released them from membership.”

Bachmann had listed her membership in the church on her campaign site for congress in 2006. She lists no church affiliation on her campaign website or her official congressional website.

Hochmuth said that a change in membership is not out of the ordinary. “You have people who are on the books as members, but they may have gone on to another church; they may not be attending a church anywhere. There’s all sorts of circumstances.”

A similar request for membership is to transfer membership from one church to another within the denomination. But that does not appear to be the case with the Bachmanns, according to Hochmuth, who said that to his knowledge, the couple was no longer attending a church within the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod . . .

When I was part of a mainstream Protestant denomination, I went through similar membership transfers and withdrew as a member of a congregation at which I had ceased attending. Look around the Web, and there's no shortage of people spinning the change of venue as a significant political drama. It's not, and the Bachmanns can worship where they want.

There's much less to the first story than meets the eye.

Migraine: a narrative arc to make my head hurt

Not so with the second. A Daily Caller piece about Michele Bachmann's migraines, is far more significant, though not because of its content. Rather, this piece is important because it signals the right's growing freak-out that she is running, and running well.

When the Daily Caller story about Michele Bachmann's health problems (she has migraine's and former staffers think the migraine's are too debilitating for her to ever be president) went online last night I was skeptical of any news value and thought the story was a low blow planted to help another Republican candidate.

The story had two sources who were obviously high level staff members or connected to high level staff members who worked for Michele Bachmann. A third person verified that Michele Bachmann does indeed get migraines. . . .

It's hard to prove, and it was just one source, until a Republican who is also suspicious that Pawlenty dropped the bogus story emailed me a link to another two high level staffers who would know about Bachmann's health problems, and who are also supporting the Pawlenty campaign. Those two other staffers are Gina Countryman and Tim Gould. Countryman was Palin's 2010 campaign manager and both former staffers would have been high enough to know about Bachmann's migraines. . . .

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann quickly jumped to the front of the pack after announcing her bid for the presidency. So it shouldn’t be a surprise to see the knives come out just as quickly to cut her down — in this case rumors that she suffers from “debilitating” medical episodes that frequently put her out for days at a time, and that she may be overly relying on, and potentially abusing, medication to keep her issues under control.

After noting that Michele Bachmann runs an aggressive campaign impossible for a debilitated candidate, Marty observes:

So why is this story happening now, and why this story, exactly? Making Bachmann a victim of her own illnesses, incapable of having the physical and emotional strength to run the country? Why, of course she’s not strong enough to lead — she’s a woman! She can’t handle stress, she falls apart when the situation gets too complicated, and she’ll crumble under pressure. This is why women cannot be put in leadership positions, right?

The narrative plays into the idea of the weak woman who cannot run — run a business, run a country. It’s nothing but a vicious, sexist hit piece that is meant to stop the woman who is not only outperforming nearly every male presidential candidate in the race, but is steadily gaining on the only candidate believed to be untouchable.

But she’s also leading the religious right, and a lot of candidates want to play for those votes. And pointing out to a group of religious voters who don’t believe women should even lead their households that a woman may be unfit to lead the nation would be a good way to try to sway them. Is a current, or even potentially new GOP candidate behind the attacks on Bachmann? It’s too soon to say. But I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if, once you start going through everyone’s staff lists, you might find a former Bachmann adviser sitting on one of them.

Up until now, most of the questions about Bachmann’s fitness to serve haven’t revolved around the fact that she’s female. Is this the end of that? There's no denying that women have more migraines than men. 18 percent of women and only 6 percent of men suffer from migraines, according to the government’s Office on Women’s Health. Does that make the migraine a woman's disease? And is it sexist to ask? . . .

One of the lurking concerns with any female candidate is that she might suddenly be overwhelmed with some Woman Problem — like the Feminine Mystique, a horrifying and recurring condition — or that she would be so struck by the lack of adequate women's facilities in the Oval Office that she suddenly became unfit to govern. Is "migraines" code for "Michele Bachmann is female"?

To illustrate the issue, the post contrasted an aerial photograph of the Hay Creek Township site in Goodhue County with two satellite photos of Uniminn pits in LeSueur County. The Hay Creek Township photo was pulled from the Citizens Against Silica Sand Mining's Facebook page.

Jim Tittle's work has been featured prominently on the History Channel, the Home Shopping Network and on the campaign trail of "a comedian turned politician," but the freelance videographer's most recent efforts have been done on a smaller, more personal scale.

As a member of the "Citizens Against Silica Mining" group in Goodhue County, he's spent the last three months helping disseminate information the best way he knows how — through video. . . .

Behind the paper's firewall, Boese details the work Tittle is doing:

"We know the mining companies will do whatever it takes to get what they want in Goodhue County and all of southeast Minnesota," John Tittle said. "It's a big issue."

Boese notes that dust from silica mining is linked to a respiratory ailment, silicosis, as well as cancer. Residents also question increased truck traffic and dust between the Red Wing area and a proposed barge transfer point at near Lake City. The project also would impact the landscape and water supply and quality.

Jim Tittle notes his own concerns that motivate his video productions:

"We're in the middle of what looks to me is a big gold rush," he said. "There's a lot of profit to be made in this. Because of that, you're going to find corporations grabbing to get as much as they can as fast as they can. And there's a lot of propaganda coming from that side. Again, I've worked in the media, and I've seen how that works.

According to Sand mine opposition brings moratorium idea to Red Wing City Council, the Goodhue County Planning Advisory Commission was to meet on Monday to discuss the idea, but t the public comment period was closed after testimony was heard in June and the issue was tabled. Citizens were not be invited to speak on the issue at Monday's meeting.

After a lengthy debate before a standing-room-only crowd for the second consecutive meeting, Goodhue County's Planning Advisory Commission decided to recommend denial of a request for a one-year moratorium on silica sand mining.

One commission member decidedly has his head in the sand:

"We have a good ordinance," said planning commissioner Howard Stenerson, who pushed hard for denial at both meetings and made the motion to do so. "I'm really not interested in what might happen in the future. It's not whether we like or don't like a proposal (from Windsor Permian) coming down the road. It's whether we can handle it. I think we can."

Boese reports that a representative from Windsor Permian was supposed to attend the meeting, although he or she didn't step forward to introduce him or herself at the meeting. A county employee told Boese that the Windsor Permian representative would be meeting with staff today

The citizens were dismayed but aren't discouraged, Boese reports:

"I think we quickly turn our focus to the county commissioners," said Keith Fossum, who proposed the moratorium along with Barb Tittle. "And I think we're going to get a different result because they are much more attuned to the community."

One county commissioner, Ron Allen is already on their side, according to Boese.

This is shaping up to be a classic David v. Goliath battle between citizens asserting local control and defending their property against a corporation. And while Jim Tittle is giving a face to the citizens through his videos, it's telling that Windsor Permian didn't show its face at the public meeting on Monday night.

Those wishing to follow the story should check out the letters section in the Red Wing Eagle Republican, as well as coverage in the Red Wing and Rochester papers.

Photo: Aerial view of the site.

Note: This is a rewrite of the original post. Bluestem was contacted by the Post Bulletin which was concerned about fair use of the articles; Bluestem now paraphrases copy that had been directly quoted.

Jul 19, 2011

St. Cloud/Central Minnesota PFLAG (Parents, Friends and Families of Lesbians and Gays) will have its second annual Rally for Marriage Equality on July 29 in Waite Park.

The event will be 7-8:30 p.m. at the Waite Park Pavilion at 151-13th Ave. N. It will be preceded by “Walk Above the Clouds,” a march for civil marriage equality for same-sex couples starting at St. Cloud State University (Barden Park) at 12:30 p.m.

Rally speakers include Matt Entenza, former candidate for governor; Jeff Wilfahrt, father of a gay son who gave his life in Afghanistan; David Schorn, a teacher at St. Cloud Technical High School; Rachel Wexelbaum, faculty member at St. Cloud State University; and Denny Smith, former PFLAG president and executive director of Winning Marriage Equality.

The rally, which promotes equality, respect and dignity for LGBT people, their families and their relationships, is free and open to the public. For more information visit www.wmenow.org.

Let us pledge to stop calling the funding mechanism for the state budget a "school shift." That sounds too innocuous, as does "accounting gimmick," which makes it sound as if these are fake numbers people are playing with that have no real consequences.

So, think about it -- we taxpayers pay once to bail the banks out and then again through property tax increases to pay the very banks that are now loaning school districts money.

And the CEO of that bank? Well, in Minnesota the GOP did everything they could to protect him so he pays not a penny more in income tax. Corporate tax loopholes? Also not closed. That's what the final agreement enshrines. An already regressive tax structure in the state will become more so.

Minnesota Republicans, many of whom swore all session by the slogan, “Not a Penny More!” have adopted a new motto: “Hey, kid, can I borrow a penny?”

Mike Struck gave his life in service of the people of Minnesota. It would be shameful to leave his widow and her two young children with a pension of less than $2300 a year. My proposed legislation shows them the compassion that their terrible loss deserves. The people of Minnesota will know in their hearts that this is the right thing to do.

So, Sen. Mike Parry thinks Gov. Mark Dayton should resign because the governor “has no feelings” regarding the state workers being out of work (Free Press, July 3).

Just where were your feelings toward state workers, Sen. Parry, when you helped strip out a provision, backed by Dayton, that would have made a Minnesota Department of Transportation worker’s pension much more equitable? The worker was killed in the line of action this spring during flooding.

And you, Parry, have said you are going to accept your pay during this shutdown, even though several of your fellow Republicans have said they wouldn’t?

And committee deliberations on the bills are taking place behind closed doors--so it's anybody's guess.

One reform that came up early on in this spring's session was removing a raft of state mandates on local governments. John Carlson threw SF0159 into the hopper, and all hell broke broke loose in February when Andy Birkey at the Minnesota Independent noticed that Republicans propose repeal of fair pay laws for women.

Instead, on May 3, his name was stricken as chief author of the legislation. Mike Parry was added as chief author instead. Gretchen Hoffman, Al Dekruif and Paul Gazelka remain as sponsors.

Is this bill the sort of thing that Parry means when he carries on about "reform"? Someone should keep an eye on him. Sadly, with the behind-closed-door negotiations, citizens have no idea what deals are being cut and no means for assuring transparency.

The public has a strong sense of what is right and wrong, and what is fair or not. The situation at the "People's House" is very unique, but it does not mean the public should be locked out when legislator's behind an impenetrable Capitol discuss the public business.

How the legislative sausage is made during regular session is far different when there is a special session as I stated in a previous post. If this was just a "regular" special session, the Capitol would be open, the public and lobbyists would be able to engage the elected officials and staff. Ask questions, get materials, gather information and see things.

It is unique since the early seventies when the "Open Government" movement hit the Minnesota Legislature, the Capitol and Legislature is less accessible to the public for the last 18 days than since that time.

Per media and press reports, billions of dollars of state monies and how to spend or reallocate it are being discussed in conference committee/committees. Deal making and horsetrading is going on to get support from other legislator's, to comply with the GOP Leadership and Governor Dayton's agreement, and for many other reasons. This happens all the time, but what's different, there's no public to see, watch, to ask questions, and put two and two together. . . .

. . .The ability of the public to be at the Capitol would allow for Minnesotans to gain knowledge about the spending of public monies, priorities and policy changes that may be different because of the BIG DEAL. To gain a good realization of the entangled and challenging choices we in Minnesota face, but also to be more broad minded about the negative consequences and to appreciate the Legislator's dilemma. To see the various interests play out in the public we are able to discern the conflicts of interests, the special interests, and to watch the decision making about the public expense and policy which is about us. We may also be able to bring a perspective, facts, or information that may help resolve an issue, error, or misunderstanding. . .

...People were walking into the state parks, but the other thing I did see that was remarkable was every private campground, every public beach, every county campground, or city campground, was packed. The private sector can pick up and do better than what government does.

So I've been taking notes throughout this whole shutdown to see how intertangled the government has become through our private sector, and when we come back next session--this is next January--we're going to try to deal with some of that stuff.

Bluestem is sure that the mayor of Hutchinson will be surprised to learn that the city campground down in West River Masonic Park is part of the private sector. County park boards were likely as not equally clueless, so it's great that Hoffman is here to set county and city governments straight about where they fit in. It's an "intertangled" recreational world out there, indeed.

When the legislature comes back next January, she's going to try to deal with some of that stuff.

Hoffman mentioned that people were just walking in to the parks--another reason to support her notion that Minnesotans don't miss their government. Reports are coming in from around the state about the consequences of those visits. WDIO reports in Making a Mess in MN State Parks:

At Gooseberry Falls in Two Harbors--bathrooms are closed and trash cans are filling up, but with no staff, there's no one to clean up.

The entrance to the park has been blocked off with orange fencing and cones for over two weeks, but that hasn't stopped visitors from going inside. Saturday cars were lined up along Highway 61 and a steady flow of people walked right past the closed sign.

"They wouldn't have these parks if it wasn't for us in the beginning so we might as well keep on doing it," said Angie Olson of Onamia, Minnesota.

But once inside, some visitors are forgetting to take out what they brought in. Cups, plastic bottles, and food containers can be found scattered throughout the park. Trash cans are overflowing, because there's no staff on duty to empty them. . . .

. . .Bathroom facilities are also closed. While there are several port-a-potties scattered throughout the park, they're too far away for most visitors to get to, making a mess of a different kind.

Photo: State Senator Gretchen Hoffman.

Note: At a reader's suggestion, the quote from the video clip was transcribed and more snark added. This post is revied from an earlier iteration.

Jul 16, 2011

Thus, Bluestem's headline isn't exactly accurate: the term "carpetbagger" entered America's political lexicon during Reconstruction, where Southerners used the power of metonymy to describe Northerners who moved in on South during that era, reducing the newcomers to the luggage they carried into town.

In modern usage, the word describes those who run for office in a place where they don't live. But perhaps Cravaack is simply acting according to a revised definition drawn the Michele Bachmann History Channel. First, Cravaack stages an upset win by portraying 18-term Congressman Jim Oberstar as as out of touch with a district from which the incumbent was often absent. Next, a successful Cravaack moves from the district before the first year of his first term is up. He may have carpetbagging in reverse, but, hey, close enough for a teabagger.

The News Tribune reports that Cravaack is a bit whiny about having to defend his seat early:

“We’re putting our team together a little bit earlier than I thought we were going to have to, but it seems as though the campaign is just on us,” Cravaack said. “When you’re the No. 1 target of the (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) and you’ve had three major campaign ads already run against you, it’s unfortunate, but I had to put my team together earlier than I anticipated. We had to be able to respond to some of these, quite frankly, attack ads.” [links added by BSP]

If only Cravaack hadn't moved his family to New Hampshire--had he not, the freshman legislator culd have asked third-term representative Tim Walz how he did it in the 2007-2008 cycle after upsetting Gil Gutknecht and the attacks came in early.

But since Walz's 30+ victory in 2008 came after Tim and Gwen Walz's commitment to their home in Southern Minnesota was firmly established in voters' minds, Cravaack may have to find another mentor, as well as hope district DFLers pick a candidate as hapless as Brian Davis.

The family’s decision to move to New Hampshire was made so that Cravaack and his wife, Traci, could spend more time with their two children. Cravaack said his wife often had to spend three days a week in the Boston area for her work with a medical supply company.

Cravaack said he’s selling his home in Lindstrom and moving to North Branch, where he’ll be closer to his office.

“We have decided to move the kids closer to me in the New Hampshire area,” he said. “She’ll probably be no more than 40 minutes away from the children.”

Cravaack said he’ll spend most Saturdays in the 8th District and his Sundays in New Hampshire.

“My wife and I said, ‘Just because I’m in Congress, I’m still a father.’ And being a father comes first,” he said. “I have to take care of my children the best way possible, and still be able to serve the country at the same time.”

It sounds like Cravaack will be a once-a-week visitor, while Congress is in session, to the district he represents. One does wonder, though, how often he'll see his children, who now live in New Hampshire, during the campaign season.

Perhaps as often as a good father should. Today's news might go some distance in explaining both Cravaack's lackluster fundraising and his absence on the NRCC's incumbent protection Patriot Program. Did the NRCC know the move was coming? On June 1, the Strib's Hot Dish blog reported in Cravaack not in first round of GOP incumbent-protection program:

The National Republican Congressional Committee has released the first members of its Patriot Program —an incumbent-protection program that offers fundraising and other help — and Minnesota’s most vulnerable House freshman is not on the list.

Rep. Chip Cravaack, who won his Eighth District seat in a close upset in 2010, was not among the 10 House Republicans included the NRCC’s program.

Cravaack is considered one of the most vulnerable freshmen Republicans in 2012, as he represents a district that went Democratic for more than 60 years. . .

. . .One potential issue for Cravaack is his own first-quarter numbers: He has raised less than eight of the 10 House members on the list.

In Q1 2011, Cravaack raised $121,024.70, with $113,039.72 cash on hand and $32,550.30 in debts and obilgations at the end of March. The second quarter numbers? Decide for yourself:

In a interview on Almanac last night, Governor Dayton said that some committees might need "adult supervision" to get their work done. Late last night, the Star Tribune included the remark in its wrap-up coverage of the day, but didn't note that later in the show, titular Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch had agreed with Dayton's assessment:

Our committees are working, and as the governor said, perhaps some of them need a little more adult supervision-- is that what he used?-- and that's very likely to finish our work.

Koch's answer came in response to a question that specifically referenced the Emo Senator from Waseca.

Parry is having none of it, and running buddy Al Dekruif (R-Elysian) is getting his back. In Warning: Budget deal no shoo-in, Mankato Free Press political reporter Mark Fischenich reports:

One of the distinctions [Rep. Tony] Cornish sees between the House and the Senate is that Zellers got a commitment in advance from rank-and-file House Republicans to back him up if he reached agreement with the governor.

“I think the difference is we gave our leadership the OK and the trust to cut the deal,” Cornish said. “I don’t think in the Senate they have that trust level.”

DeKruif and Parry were asked if they felt any obligation, after electing Koch as their majority leader, to support the deal she negotiated even if they don’t agree with it.

“I don’t think there’s been any agreement reached, first of all,” DeKruif said. “Second, when the governor said he’s agreed to an offer that we made (in late June). ... Well, part of that offer had some policy attached.”

Parry said his only responsibility is to vote in the way that he feels best represents the interests of his constituents.

Sen. Mike Parry, R-Waseca, said he spent Thursday afternoon in conference calls with other Republican leaders to discuss the governor’s supposed agreement and added that is he not happy with Dayton’s response.

“The governor says he agrees with our June 30 proposal. However, for him to accept that, he has put in three different options or things he needs in order to accept our offer. He hasn’t accepted our offer — he’s just saying if we agree to three items he wants in there, then he will consider,” Parry said. . . .

Yesterday, that pique opened in a deluge that threatens the agreement to end the shutdown, without the adult supervision Parry rejects.

Today's Mankato Free Press article suggests the reason that Parry is able to act out like a temperamental Southern Minnesota belle: because he can. Titular Senate Majority Leader Koch's apparent inability to sell the compromise to her caucus creates enormous leverage for Parry. Fischenich writes:

Senate Republican leaders, who hold a 37-29 majority, can’t afford many defectors if they want to get the budget passed. If no Democrats support the deal, something Parry said the Senate GOP has been told is likely, the defection of four Republicans would block passage.

After talking to Senate colleagues on Friday, DeKruif wouldn’t put odds on getting a budget passed and putting and end to the shutdown — something Dayton, Zellers and Koch predicted would happen Monday or Tuesday.

“I’m not sure,” DeKruif said. “I’d just suggest: Stay tuned.”

Who brought Flouncett O-Parry to the cotillion?: Bluestem's assessment

Mike Parry, belle of the ball, is a creature spawned by Koch's ceding power to Senate Majority Leader Mike Brodkorb, as well as by the passionate embraces extended by some of the press corps. Brodkorb has nurtured Parry's inner child, and the legislative process is not better for the Emo Senator's public self-actualization.

Seen in this light, the Republican majority that swept Koch to power is both her blessing and her curse. For while on paper Koch has the ability to set the agenda that Day never enjoyed, unlike Day, she must contend with not one Bachmann, but multiple manifestations of that political personality, none of whom is as attractive or charismatic (in either secular or sacred connotations) as the Gentlewoman from Minnesota's Sixth. And while Day is said to have given Brodkorb his first job in the Senate, in her own inexperience, Koch gave Brodkorb the Senate.

A comment on the Hot Dish item notes how this sort of behavior isn't new for Parry. Indeed, it goes back to his first starring role in elected office, as a member of Waseca's City Council:

MarshallNJul 15, 115:30 pm

Parry has been one of the most vocal critics of Gov. Mark Dayton and his administration, even calling for the governor's resignation......... Mike Parry is a hot-headed drama queen who wants his share of the attention. This meeting is not much different than what he had done in the past to get himself booted out of the City Council.[emphasis added]

At the time of the special election, Bluestem Prairie readers in the Waseca area alerted me to Parry tumultous career in the single term he enjyed on the council until voters "booted" him out of office.

A far more troublesome issue during Perry's one-term tenure was his combative style. Bluestem looked at the impact of Parry's behavior on the City of Waseca's council, staff and voters in a series of special-election related posts.

In a nutshell the Maplewood Park story is this: Parry talked to developers, offered a resolution to request proposals for the sale and development of the park, then spun his actions as intended only to call attention to the park's future when hundreds of Waseca residents raised their voices against the "plan."

Did Mike Parry's treatment of a former Waseca City employee trigger fears of a lawsuit? Did those fears prompt a large severance package-and was the episode yet another reason voters ended Parry's career on the city council after one term?

Did Parry's deletion of emails in which city business was conducted skirt state laws? . . .

Parry's behavior--now beloved of Senate Majority Leader Brodkorb and certain members of the working press--is nothing new. After this afternoon's tantrum, will a new set of voters see the wisdom of what Waseca citizens did after one term in the city council?

After all, Parry will be running in a new district in 2012, and the sabotage of the agreement between GOP leadership and Governor Dayton just might not look like a job recommendation to voters next year.

"I just took my tablet, put it in my folder," Parry said. "And Commissioner Showalter looked at me and said, ‘Senator, please don’t leave.’ And I said, 'Commissioner, I’m not here to waste my time. We have a serious situation, it needs to be resolved, and you have no clue what the governor wants in this bill.'"

Will the gardener ever get back to work? Will Parry volunteer to mow the lawn at the Summit Avenue mansion, proving once and for all he's the man when it comes to fescue?

Meanwhile, after reading a tweet by Minnpost's media critic commenting "Emo Senator strikes again." this poor country blogger has contacted her agent about putting Bluestem's telenovela, "Ugly Parry," inspired by the Waseca senator, back on the market.

A source close to the Walz campaign tells Bluestem that the Southern Minnesotan's committee will report that it raised $380,000 in 2Q 2011 (July 2011 FEC Quarterly report) and retains $397,000 cash on hand. Update: the campaign is now debt-free. [end update]

With the landscappe of Minnesota's First CD uncertain until redistricting is complete, no challenger has publicly announced a bid against Walz. A few names are batted about: Mike Parry, Steve Drazkowski, Allen Quist, and 2010 MNGOP candidate Randy Demmer.

Randy Lee Demmer - Republican Demmer challenged DFL Rep. Tim Walz in the 1st District last year and lost. Demmer's in the race again this year but so far has raised just $1,600 and his campaign is still buried under $93,000 in debt from last year.

Walz Dollar Deets Developing

Bluestem's source couldn't share a balance statement for the quarter, but past records can help put the totals in perspective.

The committee started the second quarter with $144,742.82 COH and $32,473.27 in debts, after raising $188,760.00 according to its Q1 2011 report. Thus there's a significant boost in the bank and the committee doubled its fundraising from one quarter to the next.

And while 2012 could prove to be the most expensive race yet in Minnesota's First, the Q2 2011 haul is large for a district where campaign spending reflects its distance far from the madding media markets.

Data points? Best to look at the two earlier off-election-year July Quarterly reports. In the Q2 2009 quarterly, Walz's committee reported $179,976.78, with $223,155.85 in the bank. He had no opponent at this time in July 2009. The 2011 Q2 figures are over twice the amount raised in the same reporting period in the 2009-2010 cycle.

For Q2 2007, when a clown car packed with Republicans were honking at the freshman Democrat's heels in summer parades, Walz raised $328,385.26 and had $453,751.05 COH in the bank.

That Walz raised more than either 2007 and 2009 in a quarter when he's campaigning unopposed is good news; that his cash on hand is lower that 2007 ever so slightly suggests an opportunity for a challenger.

Bluestem knows some funny people who can sing. It may not be the tune many of my other friends are singing this morning, since they believe branding one faction as the party of millionaires is some kind of victory. I suppose it is.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- When a chorus of singing beer drinkers threatened to stop working, a shuttered Minnesota State Capitol staggered to its knees. Within eight hours, Governor Mark Dayton, Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, and House Speaker Kurt Zellers agreed to a framework for opening the doors of government again.

The Minnesota Beer Drinkers Chorus must remain thirsty for tax equality, though their demands for beer access will be met under the terms of the agreement.

Forbes reported "It must have been the threat of Minnesota’s bars quickly running out of beer and being unable to buy new supplies without their government issued purchase cards that did the trick."

Now, the true story can be told about the video that ended the shutdown. Revising a classic Prohibition song, thirsty beer drinkers sing their demands that the legislature return and agree on a state budget.

So a deal's been struck on ending the Minnesota state shutdown, and nobody's happy except for some armchair strategists who believe that their side has gained an advantage going into the 2012 elections. Their logic depends upon which side they're on, and Bluestem will let the smart people write that part of the story up themselves.

It's not the version of the truth that Bluestem shares.

Reading early analysis of the agreement, Bluestem is struck by one common identification of the tipping point that made Dayton abandon his call for tax equality and the Republicans forego their laser-like focus on social issues like abortion and voter ID (they do so get to hate the gay in 2012, so not all was lost to them).

Not everyone in the state noticed the service shutdowns. But, this week, reports emerged that the Minnesota Department of Public Safety told beer giant MillerCoors that it could not renew its liquor license — a situation that came close to forcing the brewer to pull its products off the shelves. Cigarette retailers were unable to purchase tax stamps during the shutdown as well, threatening the state's nicotine cache. Before lawmakers reached a deal, a special judge ruled Thursday that a popular racetrack was to remain closed.

It was not the closing of many governmental services that drove Minnesotans to anger about the shutdown. The real crisis seemed to be when the racetracks and lottery closed, bars had difficulty getting beer, liquor, and cigarettes, beer distributors could not stock Minnesota shelves, and the baseball fans faced the prospect of baseball without beer. Perhaps life without gambling, booze, and smokes is what brokered the compromise. What would Minnesota be without the them?

Perhaps what the state's politics have become: an arena in which gaining advantage for the next election has become more important than governing wisely. For while each political party will frame and message and spin this agreement into cotton candy stock phrases and talking points, the fact of the matter is that both sides borrowed from the schools, borrowed from the butts and ashes left in the tobacco settlement, and agreed to borrow in a meager bonding bill.

And that this was done to calm, rather than to engage the citizens of the state, speaks gallons to what's wrong with both parties and the lamprey caste of operatives that flourishes at the side of our state government.

Many schools have already had to borrow money because of the Pawlenty plan, which delayed state payments due in the last biennium. According to the Winona Daily News, nearly 40 percent of Minnesota school districts borrowed money last year, and more will have to borrow this year, because of shortfalls and delays in tax payments to schools.

While schools can repay the loans when state aid comes in, that doesn't really solve the problem. The interest paid on the loans costs real dollars that otherwise could pay for books and teacher salaries and field trips.

Bankers are making money from the local school districts.

Bluestem will have more later. But now a lovely midsummer thunderstorm is at my window and a young friend writes from the Caribean that humpback whales are breaching the sea in their courtship dances. So it goes.

Sen. Mike Parry's Tweets have been in the social media quite a bit lately. The Daily News compiled some of the commentary about his controversial, plain speak posts, using storify.com

Smith's story includes tweets Parry posted about a laid-off state employee on Saturday, July 9 that generated another controversy. Unfortunately, the article fails to include any information about why the two tweets (two of the three Parry tweets included in the piece) drew criticism.

Nor is any of the responses she cites about the July 9 tweets. Without fact checking or including social media critics who directly address the information in Parry tweets Smith selects for her article, the editor may leave her readers thinking that Parry's false statements about the laid-off employee are correct. This is sloppy work at best.

But by repeating his tweets without fact checking--and labeling them as "plain speak" while omitting tweets that do point out that Parry is bullshitting in his July 9 tweets--Smith grossly misleads her readers.

By not conducting any due diligence, Smith merely repeats the false information in the tweets she cites. She fails to tell her readers that Parry's tweets about the gardener are not true.

And the Minnpost piece isn't about those tweets.

It gets worse. While the article includes both of Parry's tweets from July 9 about the laid-off staffer--whom Parry's tweets suggest is still working--none of the critical tweets included in the FDN piece are from Saturday or are about Parry's Saturday tweets. Check out the dates of the tweets included:

Predictably, the senator has his share of supporters and detractors on the Internet.

Instead, all of these critical tweets are in response to that July 12 Minnpost puff piece about Parry by Doug Grow. Not that the FDN reader would know this--since this is another vital piece of information Smith leaves out in the list of "responses," even though the Minnpost article had the only "media attention" Smith brings up.

Instead, she represents a retweet of the Grow headline as a that of a supporter. However, the accompanying URL doesn't go to Minnpost--so once again, FDN readers who don't already know this won't learn otherwise.

But perhaps she's riht to put the Grow piece in the "supporter" category.

Grow's piece isn't about any of the Parry tweets included in the FDN article. It's about Doug Grow's own passion for Parry after interviewing him following an agist tweet about Mondale and Carlson and tweets about Dayton resigning. The latter were made only after the Waseca senator first brought up the notion of Dayton's resignation to the traditional press.

And after that media veteran bonding experience, Grow too lost out on providing any context for Parry, as Bluestem noted in Emo senator Mike Parry pats self on back for compassion, reveals another income source. Grow portrayed Parry as a beleagued small business owner, but missed that fact that Parry had whined to MPR just a month before about needing a higher state salary because he only had one source of income: that senator check.

If this were a larger media market, Smith's fake objectivity (and Grow's laziness) would be worthy of comment by media critic Jay Rosen.

Bluestem wonders what's more remarkable: for Mike to be able to see the governor's lawn from Waseca, on Highway 14, deep in the heart of Minnesota's First Congressional District (not unlike Sarah Palin's ability to see Russia from her house in Alaska).

Or for Parry to brag that his lawn looks better than the lawn he imagines he sees on St. Paul's Summit Avenue. Three facts underscore how remarkable his lack of couth really is.

Contacted via email about the gardener's employment status during the shutdown, a source in the Governor's Office wrote that "Gardener is laid off, not working and not getting paid." Perhaps that might explain why the lawn looks the way it does.

Bluestem's tweet of the post was circulated on July 9 by tweeps calling Parry on his bullshit.

By omitting any component of the controversy and fact checking generated by the Parry tweets she herself includes in the story, Smith paints Parry as a controversial, "plain spoke" leader beseiged by critics on social media. It's a classic Republican Victim narrative, aided and abetted under the guise of news.

In the interest of a better informed readership for the Daily's News audience, Bluestem is fixing the paper's headline: "The Faribault Daily News managing editor's love affair with Mike Parry."

The larger question remains: why is this piece in the Faribault Daily News? Pro-Republican bias? Sheer incompetence on the part of Jaci Smith? Both? You be the judge.

I see by your recent article asking the local politicians questions regarding the budget that Republicans haven’t changed their stance one bit. That is, stick it to the middle class and protect the rich.